Originally Posted by sally
In the case of being obese or overweight, whether you have anything such as a fat gene or don't is a non-issue.
Every one of us is genetically pre-disposed to certain traits, illnesses, diseases, etc. Thankfully, not every trait or illness or disease is manifested during our lives. In most cases, there has to be some sort of trigger to set things off (i.e. the part played by 'nurture').
If you have a family history of diabetes, obesity, smoking, & cancer, the chances that you could develop either or all of those issues are higher in not just the biological sense but the environmental sense because it may be that your 'family' was prone to overeating and casual smoking which says that they basically neglected the need to pay attention to ones health. The smoking could've led to cancer eventually, and overeating to diabetes, who knows? Chances are you yourself, (since we ARE talking about family history here) have also been raised in the same environment and resultantly haven't taken much care of yourself, or are most likely not going to take care of yourself. Paired with health negligence (environmental contributer because you could've been raised otherwise, or can change your lifestyle still) you've probably inherited the genes from your chain smoker lung cancer suffering dad and overweight mother so if you keep up with your poor lifestyle, yes you are going to suffer.
I have a friend who is diabetic with two children. She's in her mid-20s and is extremely fit; you could never tell she's a mother of two. Her diabetes is also under control. She is also an avid worker-out, in fact I met her at our gym. Did her past eating habits contribute to her diabetic issue? Did her genes? Who knows? Who cares? Because we now know that whatever the case, she's got it under control and can possibly even reverse the condition. She worked hard to take care of herself and she has been successful.
Anyway, so far even the existence of a fat gene is being debated amongst scientists. But really why does it even matter because everyone should try to eat healthy and everyone should be educated properly about how important good health is and everyone should make it a point to MOVE aka get some form of exercise on a daily basis. And it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that control over eating habits and exercise paired together can get rid of an overweight/obese condition.
This is unlike something such as breast cancer, which could either be the cause of inheriting some form of a mutated gene from either your mother or father, or it may be a random mutation that happens after birth. Not every woman can pinpoint the exact cause of why she's suffering from breast cancer, or what precise measures she should've or could've or still can take to get rid of it (yes I know you can try to remove the cancerous lump but it still comes back) So like I said, it's unlike fat loss which is a no brainer for everyone. It has a cause that we can actually pinpoint and work on, even AFTER it has occurred.
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